Returning the Divorce petition

Dear All,
I've just received the divorce petition which also had a "statement of arrangements" form attached. How important is it to get this right on day#1. In principle I agree with whats proposed except num wks for summer holiday and after/pre school childcare; this fails to mention that stbx is reliant on grandparents for this, which potentially affects other future decisions.

Will this document become the final legal order or is it just an interim statement?

The form says "if I do not agree....opportunity of saying so when petition for divorce servered". This is now as far as I can see, If I want to propose a change do I attach a letter or do I need to complete my own form with the changes?

What happens if I send the petition back and don't send back the "statement of arrangements", can that be done in a few days time?

Hi there

I presume you have received the draft petition, not the issued one from court?

Amanda

No, she went straight for the court petition. I was copied in on it, but it wasn't sent to me for comment prior to filing.

I orginally thought that this document went straight to application for Decree Nisi, but since posting have discovered that there is something called a divorce affadavit which my stbx will next need to complete.

What legal status does the petition have ? What documents need to be filed start to finish for a decree nisi by both parties if its uncontested, if I saw a "roadmap" I'd know where i was along it.

Hi

The road map is in the step by step guide under free resources.

If you fundementally disagree with the SOA you can file your own with the acknowledgment, however, the SOA is a statement of intent, for the judge to ascertain whether there are any issues for the court to become involved in. It does not lead to any orders, it simply leads to the judge either being satisfied or not in relation to the arrangments for the children.

If you have not finalised the number of weeks for the summer, you can either file your own (which may lead to some delay) or speak to her, and have it put in writing that the summer holiday contact will be X weeks.

Amanda